Enthroned is one of the most respected pure and real black metal acts out there. After 20+ years they are active and dashing. They could bear easily the title of black metal sovereigns. For the moment they unleash their 10th black-hearted album, SOVEREIGNS, which is full of aggressive no-frills straightforward black metal backed by dying growls straight out of the deep black depths of Hell.

They have never conformed to trends. And they are proud of it. I am proud of them too. They didn’t undertake to create a symphonic black mess like other (of course there are very good symphonic black albums), but they are not in that musical direction or intention. SOVEREIGNS is an album that can compared to other black metal milestone albums like Mayhem’s DE MYSTERIIS DOM SATHANAS, Darkthrone’s A BLAZE IN THE NORTHERN SKY, Emperor’s ANTHEMS TO THE WELKIN AT DUSK or Marduk’s OPUS NOCTURNE.

If you didn’t know that SOVEREIGNS is an album of 2014, you could easily put it in 1993. This is the seventh band (alongside with Immortal, Gorgoroth, Mayhem, Emperor, Darkthrone and Burzum) that complete the absolute Norwegian second wave of black metal (Enthroned are from Belgium, but their musicianship is still Norwegian).

SOVEREIGNS album contains evil guitars, up-tempo tracks (like ‘The Edge of Agony’, ‘Baal al-Maut’) and high-grade epic mid-tempo diamonds like ‘Lamp of Invisible Lights’. Quorthon would have been proud of those tracks and would envy them. This album is a great piece of pure old school black metal without any fancy crap or cosmopolitan features or symphonic elements. It’s just a black metal album.

SOVEREIGNS is a strafing run of burly, hammering riffs, a high-energy drum attack, and howling/shrieking vocals that will stand your hair on end. And, it has a powerhouse epic element that will keep you coming back for more. This is top-shelf black metal from a band worth watching closely.